Going! Going! Gosh!

Chuck Jones's 'Going! Going! Gosh!', the third cartoon in the Road Runner series, has the invigorating feel of a series coming to life. 'Fast and Furry-ous' established the characters and 'Beep Beep' experimented with different forms and lengths of joke but 'Going! Going! Gosh!' feels like the first classic Road Runner. The quality of gags has risen significantly in this outing and the animation is also a cut above. There are a couple of reused gags even at this early stage but the sheer vivaciousness of the animation and direction breathe new life into them. This may be my favourite example of the oft used logic-defying painted landscape gag, for instance. This is Road Runner as it is most fondly remembered: quick fire, fast paced and very funny, even when you can see the punch line coming a mile away. 'Going! Going! Gosh!' provides an equal amount of gags where you go "I knew that was going to happen" and ones where you go "Oh, I didn't see that coming". It keeps the viewer on their toes, ensuring there's never a chance to get bored. It's the thrilling moment that the Road Runner series really found its feet.

Going! Going! Gosh! (1952)

*** (out of 4)

Third in the series has the Coyote using all sorts of extremes to try and capture the Road Runner. This time out we get a hot air balloon, a cliff falling and even cross dressing. My one complaint for this series is that the same stuff just keeps happening over and over and perhaps this isn't as noticeable in only the third film but it is something that has kept this duo off my favorites list. Even with that said this is still en enjoyable cartoon that manages to fly by because you just can't help but feel sorry for Wile E. Coyote. No matter how dumb he is or how many times he fails, you can't help but admire him for the effort. The highlight has to be the two scenes where he meets a truck head on.

Yet another litany of Wile E. Coyote maiming himself while trying to trap Road Runner. One of the funniest gags involves Wile E. dressing up as a woman (sure enough, Road Runner is already ahead of him). Sometimes, I wonder why Wile E. doesn't just give, knowing what always happens to him, but I realize that if that happened, the cartoons couldn't exist.

All in all, "Going! Going! Gosh!" is one of the many classic Looney Tunes cartoons showing why their cartoons from that era really set the standards. They'll always be marvellous, and you can watch them time and again and still laugh. Just great.

This is not the best Roadrunner vs. Coyote cartoon, but it is not the worst as there is fun to be had. The ending is not the best there is I admit, but there is enough to enjoy. Also while there are one or two predictable gags, there are some that do completely take you by surprise. The animation quality is colourful and crisp, the music doesn't fall into the danger of being repetitive and annoying, the pacing is fine and Coyote is once again devious and cunning.

Overall, it isn't a masterpiece of a cartoon, but it works well enough and has enough interest to maintain possible re watches.

8/10 Bethany Cox

The third pairing of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner is still good and features many gags that work, including the Coyote dressing up as a woman hitch-hiker, a hot-air balloon, and the old paint a road gag. The ending is a tad too much like the ending to the first cartoon, but I can simply watch ANY cartoon with the pairing of these two and be endlessly entertained every single time. It's something that I can't truly explain to anyone who isn't a fan. But those who get it know what I'm talking of. This animated short can be seen on Disc 2 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2.

My Grade: A-